Lecture 2.doc

Lecture 2
The origins of the studio
• Movies began movein west coast.
• in LA - Hollywood - improved conditions longer daylight, few seaonsal changes.
• Motion pictures patents company - MPPC founded in 1908 biggest equpiment
manufacture fiml producer distributiors created trust
• combines 9 companies- edison, bio, vitagraph selig.etv
• attempt to monoplize the industry- competiros had to pay licesne fee
• indie companies wekaned them, not able to develop enough film form americn
demand
• MPPC dissovled numer of dist exhib and prod already in place would beocome
and oligoply.
Labour
• new york was union tow, los angles not
• early movie moguls keep unions out of industry
• wages cheaper in la cas to NY 1908 most movies companiesmove west
DW Griffith
• most influential director
• devleoped eddiing approach
• film makes followed him
• between 08 -13 amade 500 hundred films
• and towared expresive enteritain art form
• important silent gilms made featre fils
Feature of American movie Bussiness
1. Shooting script - thomas ince broguht towardrs making the film operate
like other major industires - assembly line production. screenplay as
bluepring - pyramdi of labout hiherarchy tio mniddle and lower woreker
2. Production organized around stars and genres- star system - movie moguls
realized certain actors more demadn then othres. mary pcikford and
charlie chapin - using their names to promotie - leverage popularirdu
-1919 acrots pickord chapplin and griffith and fairbanks created united
artists product and dist compnay of own.-stars way to diffrentiate between
others. -more of a marketing stratefy - promotionm, publicity and media.
Chaplin
• intresting figure early cinemea- recognized as little tramp -consisten priviglegin or
working class people univeral symbol could idneitry town to twon job to job work
in capitliest society
• 3.exhbition- larger atractive thatres lmovie palace thousands of patron
MPPDA • motion picture producers and distributors founded in 1922
• Headed by will Hays
• Dealt with Public Relations censorship and labor relation
Academy of motion picture arts and sciences,
• Founded in 1927 as a kind of company to forestall unionization of creative talen
and skilled professionals.
• famous for its annual awards.
• As hollywood became more succesful more conflict among people that were in
the industy
• and some of the most sucessful movies that were made.
The early studio system and vertical intergation
• production
• distribution
• exhibition
• by 1930's hollywood was an oligoply dominated by mgm warner brothers etc.
• involved in all parts of the movies such as the 3 above^
• by 1930's established, revolved around studios in los anagels, developed
organization around scripts and
Film as Art
• influence of german expressiosm 1919- 1926
• German filmmakeer come to us and teach this style to other filmakers becomes a
major inflece on american films
• visual style began to produced become successful many great filmd directors.
• This style was flourished by german cultu